


When Cats Ruled The World

by Ysavvryl



Category: Chrono Cross
Genre: Alternate Ending, Ambiguous Relationships, Cats, Gen, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:47:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28155579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ysavvryl/pseuds/Ysavvryl
Summary: A certain spell goes awry... or did it?
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	When Cats Ruled The World

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DeCarabas](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeCarabas/gifts).



It was fascinating seeing the power that the Frozen Flame held, even indirectly through the young man who had touched it. Serge was the only human in the El Nido area who was free of FATE. While no other could see this, people were drawn to him immediately as a way to change their lives even though Serge hardly said a word. Perhaps the same draw had caught her too? If someone suggested that, Harle would give a bright laugh and say, non, she was loyal to Monsieur Lynx that zat was zat. She wore a mask to not reveal her feelings, perhaps not even to herself?

Whatever the truth was, there were problems now. They could not enter the Dead Sea in this world currently and their best lead on that was missing. Radius, Zappa, and Norris were all pushing to search out that key, whether from the Sage of Marbule, or perhaps one of the many fishermen, or from the Dragon Sage, or from some other source. But if they took the lead, FATE would confound their efforts as they would eventually discover it. Only Serge could lead an effort to find the Frozen Flame. Serge was now Lynx, and the Lynx she had followed was now Serge… although, that one had been acting increasingly more erratic and the body swap made that more apparent. If this Lynx made an effort to become Serge again, then he should have no difficulty finding the Frozen Flame (and thus she would fulfill her mission).

However, this Lynx was still confused over the body swap. It should be fine; it was all accounted for in the plan. But seeing it in person made Harle feel a twinge of guilt. Of course, she would keep him confused to some degree so that he didn’t see how she was pointing out his way. Lynx was currently too confused, something most humans couldn’t read on his demihuman face. As a result, he was letting Radius make the decisions. That was no good. Harle could easily tease that old man into going the right way for her, she had no doubt in that. But as long as it wasn’t Lynx deciding on things and inspiring others to choose against FATE, they would be unable to enter the Dead Sea and find the path to the Frozen Flame. To avoid that, Harle convinced Norris to allow them more than just one boat. Radius could go out with whoever else was clear-headed to get lost on their investigations due to FATE’s interference.

And she could go off alone with Lynx on their own boat, to give him some time to figure things out himself. Harle suggested they go to Marbule and he agreed. Unfortunately, there were no other demihumans there. It was peaceful and quiet with just another pair of adventurers around. Toma was willing to tell them a lot, including what happened to the demihumans of Marbule. Somehow, a human named Fargo had enslaved all of them through a few games of blackjack and they were now working aboard his pleasure ship Zelbess. That included the Sage, who should know a way into the Dead Sea.

It was good information, and of course Lynx would be on the right track. Harle told him that she’d search out the town in case anyone was in hiding. While she gave that a small effort, she mostly left Lynx alone to his thoughts. On her cursory search, she did locate a house with a well-stocked kitchen. That meant that the demihumans had only recently been enslaved. It also meant that she could cook up a nice meal for Lynx. Perhaps a ham and potato casserole, with some nice vegetables she found in the freezer. If she wanted to make something else, she’d have to go to another island to acquire the ingredients.

Lynx found her as she was finishing up the vegetables. “Ah, you have discovered me!” she said, giving him a wave. “Pardon moi, but I found a veritable bounty in zis house and decided I should get a meal ready. I shall have it done soon, so if you would wait a minute or two, we will eat.”

“Sure, thanks,” he said. Without being asked, he found the rag bin she’d been using and wiped the dust off the table. “Why did you stick with me?”

“Because I serve Monsieur Lynx,” she explained. “Zat is all.”

“Then you should have stayed with the other Lynx,” he said. “Even others have agreed that my spirit is that of Serge, not Lynx.”

Giving a chuckle, she said, “As I said before, you are no longer Serge, as he is no longer Lynx. If I really wanted to be with Serge, I would’ve stayed in the other world. I would rather be with Monsieur Lynx. C’est la vie.”

“What does that even mean?” he asked.

“That was as plain as I could make it, oui?”

“No, the la vee part, and that wee.”

Setting the vegetables aside, she said, “Non, that is ‘oui’, yes. C’est la vie… zat is life. It’s French.”

“But what is French?” Lynx asked. “I’ve never heard those words until I met you.”

“It is another language,” Harle explained. “If I am just speaking my mind, it slips out without a thought. But it is true, not many speak it in El Nido.”

“Where did you learn it?” he asked, for some reason extra curious about this.

“When I was a petite child,” she said. Although, she didn’t remember where she’d learned French. It just came to her naturally. But why was that quirk given to her? That question made her uneasy, so she asked, “So! What do we do now? You need to find another Dragon Tear to turn yourself back to Serge, if zat is what you wish.”

“How do you know that?”

“Tsk tsk, what is with all ze questions now?” she asked. “Well, dinner is ready. Enjoy!”

“I would like to know if I’m working with you,” Lynx said, although he joined her in getting a plate for food.

“Hmm, I suppose zat is a prudent request,” Harle said. “But it is le logic, non? If ze Dragon Tear of one world had you trade bodies with Monsieur Lynx, zen should you wish to return to Monsieur Serge, you would need ze Dragon Tear of ze other world. But if you wish to go into ze Dead Sea, it seems zat ze Sage zat’s supposed to be here is our best lead.”

“We’ll go to the Zelbess tomorrow,” he said, calmer than before. So he had made his choice, excellent.

“Oui, let’s have some fun at it,” she said cheerfully.

And he thanked her for dinner, even complimenting her. The other Lynx had never done so; he barely acknowledged her most days despite relying on her help. It was one of those times when Harle wondered if humans weren’t all that bad.

The next day, they sailed to the northern waters of El Nido to board the S.S. Zelbess. It was a good reflection of the world, Harle thought: bright, colorful, and fun on the outside, but dirty and cruel inside. As they weren’t human, they were able to search around below deck for the Sage. They figured out that the Sage was an old man with long fins posed like antlers on his head. Unfortunately, they only figured that out after the Sage had gone into a restricted area. They could wait until his shift was over, or they could gamble with Fargo to arrange a meeting.

Or, they could do something more entertaining. “Become cats?” Lynx asked.

“Oui, even more zan you are,” Harle said. “You remember zat show with ze knife throwers and ze stage magician? Ze latter can turn others into cats! And with such a transformation, we could move about zis ship freely.”

“You can teleport at will,” he pointed out.

“But you cannot,” she countered. “Ze Sage should be able to understand us as we are and as cats, so it will work.”

“Really?”

“He should; most powerful demihumans can.”

He gave it some thought, which was fine as there was currently some comic duo on the stage. Once that show ended, he said, “I used to be afraid of cats. But my mother loves them and helped me overcome that fear. I mean, it’s still strange to intentionally turn into a cat. But let’s give this a try.”

“Good!” And Harle was excited for this. There were so many fun things to do. While the old gods wanted her to hurry, this mission was bound to take years. It could take a couple more… and she could have fun while getting things accomplished.

While they stood on stage for the transformation, Harle paid close attention to what the old magician Sneff did. It might take practice, but she felt like she could imitate what he did. Turning into a cat whenever could have other applications. She turned into an elegant black cat, of course, but Lynx turned into a black and white cat. Before Sneff could turn them back, they fled the room. Everyone towered over them, though Harle had fun darting between the legs of the guard who had stopped them before; him tripping up was hilarious.

They searched the inn and found that it was good that they hadn’t gambled with Fargo. By use of a magnet underneath the casino, he was cheating at his games. Lynx found a pin that kept the handle in place. On removing that, Harle could teleport the handle away so that the ship’s crew couldn’t find it. That might be useful later on. They searched Fargo’s room to find a mermaid nagging him about a song. As they were thinking of leaving, the rocker Nikki came in to ask about the song as well. Such a song could calm the nightmares inhabiting Marbule currently. That would be something to remind Lynx of as it might make things more fun in the future.

There were other cats aboard the ship, albeit they were all natural cats. While they could smell that Lynx and Harle were transformed, the cats were surprisingly helpful. They had tips about crossing over to the stage ship next to the Zelbess and about holes to chase mice through. Given what they’d witnessed, Lynx decided to cross over to the Magical Dreamers ship. Before they could get there, a woman stopped them. “This ship has so many cute cats,” she declared, reaching into her purse.

“Must you spoil every cat you come across?” a man with her said in disapproval.

“Why not?” she said, dropping some small treats for them. “This batch came out nicely, so of course I’m going to share them with the adorable kitties.”

“You expect moi to eat something dropped on ze floor?” Harle asked, indignant. Her tail lashed.

“They smell good,” Lynx said, going ahead and eating one. “Mm, tastes great! Like cheese bread with a bit of fish.”

“Sounds unappetizing when put together in one treat,” she said, knocking one towards him. “But if you enjoy zem, be my guest.”

“Thanks!” Lynx gobbled down the other treats and they moved on to climb the mast.

The mast was simple for them as cats to climb. From there, they were to walk across a rope holding onto colorful banners between the two ships. It was a magnificent view over both ships. Both were colorful and festive, but one had old-fashioned style in wood and iron while the other had a modern style that was custom made to its purpose. “This is not so bad, non?” Harle asked as she hopped over to the mast on the Magical Dreamers ship.

“Seeing the other cats at their own size was startling,” Lynx said. “But yes, this is more fun than most of the stuff I’ve been doing lately.”

On the Magical Dreamers’ ship, they overheard Nikki speaking with Miki, one of his dancers. She reminded him of how much he wanted to save Marbule for his mother’s sake, something that encouraged Nikki to seek out the Sage. “It seems everyone wishes to talk with zat old man,” Harle said.

“Those ghostly creatures gave me chills,” Lynx said. “Can they really get rid of them with a song?”

“Oui, it should hold no difficulty,” she said. “Did you hear? Zose ghostly Lagoonites are ze nightmares of ze Black Dragon. If zat singer can reach ze Black Dragon through his dreams and across worlds, zen a song special to ze Black Dragon will have a profound affect. Someone would have to banish zose monsters to be rid of zem for good, but ze Black Dragon should be grateful.”

“So would the demihumans,” he said thoughtfully.

“Zat too.”

Then Miki spotted them. “Aw, I think these are new visitors,” she said, crouching down in front of them. “Are you the friendly sort?”

“Ignore zese hussies,” Harle said, turning away. “We should search somewhere else to find new information.”

“They just think we’re cats,” Lynx said, going up to Miki. He even sniffed her fingers like he was a normal cat! This Lynx was nicer, but this was too nice.

And then the girl picked him up and rubbed his head! “You’re a cutie,” Miki said with a bright smile.

“Ugh,” Harle muttered, the end of her tail twitching.

After a moment, Miki tapped Lynx’s forehead. “Looking at you, I feel like things will be okay. Like Nikki can learn that song and we can save Marbule. Are you maybe a lucky cat? I think so.” She put him down, thankfully. “I hope you can bless us with some luck, little one,” she added before going off to do something else.

“Did you really have to do zat?” Harle asked him as he walked back over.

“You said we should have fun today,” Lynx said, sounding happy. “I think we should find the Sage and Nikki, then figure out how to help them with Marbule.”

“You would have more fun if it were I holding you,” she teased. “But very well, I did say zat. Let’s go find zose two.”

The mice holes were useful for getting them into the Grand Slam area where the Sage was. Despite the big fuss the crew made about the Grand Slam, it turned out to be just monsters fighting other monsters in a big pit (it was the kind of things the humans she was told about would do). The Sage wasn’t even in the Slam area. Instead, he was cleaning the lowest halls of this ship. “You two aren’t ordinary cats,” the Sage said when he spotted them. “You’ll need to go back to the upper decks to get transformed back by Sneff.”

“Later,” Harle said. “For now, we have come to speak with you.”

As he could hear them, the Sage raised an eyebrow. “Oh really? What would you want with a old janitor like me?”

“Don’t be coy with us, Sage,” Harle said. “We may look like harmless little chattes right now, but Monseuor Lynx here is quite strong. Still, zere are things we cannot do, such as enter ze Dead Sea. We need to search zat place for something important. S’il vous plait, could you tell us how to get inside zat place?”

“What do you seek in that forsaken place?” the Sage asked.

“The truth,” Lynx said.

“The truth on what?” he asked.

“Several things,” he answered.”

He rubbed his chin in giving it some thought. “Hmm… you may find something unpleasant. Are you sure that you want to seek truth?”

“Yes,” Lynx said without hesitation.

“If that’s so, then I can tell you how,” the Sage said. “But it’s a fiddler crab charm in my keeping that is the key to calming the tides. It would be easier to hand over in your natural forms.”

“Zen you will hand it over when we come back, oui?” Harle asked.

He nodded, then pulled out a small notepad. “I’ll let the guard know to let you through, since you’ll need to go through the Grand Slam entrance to get here where I work.” He took down their names and promised to hand the crab charm over when they returned. While he could be messing with them, they had to go with it.

Back in the upper deck, they found Sneff in the worker’s break area. He was relieved to see them and immediately turned them back. At least, he got Harle back to her normal form. Lynx remained as a true feline. And although Sneff tried twice more, he still did not change back. Still, Lynx’s power remained as Sneff offered to come along with them to figure out what was going on. As did Nikki and Miki to find the Sage, and Fargo once Harle won a game against him, and a strange creature called Pip and one of the Grand Slam trainers.

Maybe that draw was even stronger when he was a cat?

* * *

Serge had chosen to remain as a cat. While it was something he’d never considered before boarding the S.S. Zelbess, it was an easy choice not long after. No one else would be pressing him into doing strange things for reasons that didn’t mean much to him. He could laze about in the sun as much as he like and people would give him treats just for being cute. As great as that was, the thing that decided it for him was when Miki had picked him up to cuddle. Harle had warned not to mess with a ‘hussy’ like her, but it wasn’t that. Nothing like that. It was a warm comforting feeling when he was held as a cat, a happy peace for both him and the person. There was nothing perverted about it, no matter how much Harle teased him when she was holding him.

And being a cat came in handy. Harle had learned the cat transformation spell, which allowed them to sneak past the defenses of FATE to find the Frozen Flame in the Dead Sea. And there was something about taking some Time Egg to go save some princess from some dragon that devoured time? It got so complicated that Serge didn’t care to keep up and just did things to escape the control of FATE or destiny or whatever it was guiding his life. When the Frozen Flame asked him what should be done, he answered that he was a cat now and he wanted to do his own thing. Everyone should do their own thing… although everyone should appreciate cats.

Thus the timelines were fused and the world recreated out of reach of Lavos. The people often remembered two different lives along with the things they’d learned in both. They could choose which life they would live from now on as FATE no longer controlled them. For some people, they had died in one timeline; it was simple for them to decide which life to go with. Other people had taken drastically different lives and might take years to figure themselves out. It was okay; they could decide for themselves.

Except one thing… but it would make them happy.

As for Serge himself, he moved to Marbule with Harle. He was still a cat, so he could do whatever he liked: nap on a sunny rock, do a little fishing as long as he rinsed himself off in fresh water after the salt, follow the demihumans around until they picked him up for pets, even hunt mice. Fishing and mice-hunting were different challenges as a cat, but equally rewarding to a good day of fishing as a human. If he was feeling lazy, he could act as a fish spotter to the fishermen and earn a meal for something easy with a cat’s senses.

And everybody loved cats. People would greet him with a smile, stepping out of the way of him or any other cat if needed. They would take turns to make sure every cat had good food available and a soft bed if wanted. When they had good fortune, they would say that they had the blessing of the cats. People were rebuilding their homes and stores too, to make sure there were cat doors, perches, and walkways so that any cat could get anywhere. Even people who formerly only loved dogs or other animals now loved cats too. They were all happy to have a contented cat nearby, purring, snoozing, and watching over them all.

One interesting benefit to being a cat was that Serge found himself able to change people’s minds simply by staring at them long enough. He could stare at someone to get them to stop drowning in what could have been and find things to appreciate about today, or get them to move out of his patch of sun, thank you very much. Several people suggested that it was because he had touched the Frozen Flame as a child; others (and sometimes those same people) would say it was because the princess Schala had somehow chosen him out of a view of a multitude of histories, which set him apart and drew the Frozen Flame to him. Whatever the reason, it was all a big headache and Serge used to wish that he had never been dropped into another world, to be left to a simple life of a fisherman in Arni. But if it gave him a means to communicate what he wanted without saying anything, Serge was fine with it all now. This was a good life.

His power of staring helped with Harle too. She had insisted for a little while on calling him Monsieur Lynx despite being able to speak with him perfectly fine. But with enough staring, even she admitted that as he remained a true feline, he was neither Lynx nor Serge anymore. Once they agreed on that point, he could argue that he wanted to be called Serge now and Harle had to agree. Serge tried not to use the stare too much, but Harle had been lost in thought for a few days now. He went to find her and stare at her a little bit to get her to talk.

After searching all of Marbule, he finally tracked her down to the big cave in back. She stood in front of the large opening, just staring off as if something should be there. He stared at her back, willing her to open up, if not to him than somebody who could help her. While it took a minute, she turned to find him. “Ah, I thought I felt something familiar at ze back of my neck. Hello Serge. What brings you in here?”

“Wondering what brings you in here,” he said, going up to her.

“I was just thinking over some things,” she said, picking him up. She then turned so he could see the empty cave. “You see zis big empty place? Zis is where ze Black Dragon once slept. But he is not here. Neither are ze other Dragon Gods where zey used to be. Zey are all gone… save one, but zat one is not exactly a god. It is strange.”

“People have been talking about that,” Serge said, looking up at her face. “But what’s strange to you?”

It took a moment, after which she sighed. “Zis is not how things should have happened. Zis is not what I was meant to do. And yet, I do not mind it as much as I should. Zis is ze world zat I know.”

“What were you supposed to do?” he asked.

Chuckling, she rubbed his chin. “Non, let a girl have her mysteries. I will say, if things had gone as planned, I would not be here. I would not be with you. And zat makes zis worthwhile. So! What should we do today? It is no good to wallow about in our thoughts for too long. Will you fish, or will you take today easy?”

“We could do something together,” Serge said. “Want to go somewhere you chose? You always ask me what to do.”

“Well zat is because you are my beloved Monsieur Serge,” she said, putting her head near his. “Though I might like it if you stopped being a true feline; I would help you get back your original self, as I am sure zat can still be done. But if zis is what makes you happy, zen I am happy for you.”

“You ought to find what would make you happy instead of relying on me to make you happy,” Serge said.

“Tsk, aren’t we being chatty today? I appreciate ze thought; you care about me more zan ze others who led me around before. But I am happy, being here with you. You need not doubt zat.”

“You’re too selfless sometimes, Harle,” he said. Perhaps she was still trying to trick him… although he doubted that. “Can you teach me how to change from cat to person? I like being a cat, but I don’t want to change back to being Lynx.”

“You will have to do so to learn ze spell,” Harle said. “But oui, I believe it should not be hard for you to learn. Zen we can go find a way to restore you to truly being Serge? I will always be with you, have no doubts in zat too.”

“Sure, let’s do that,” he agreed.

But he spent most of his remaining life as a cat.


End file.
